New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1887-02-06
THE ToODSTOCK BRIDGE DISASTER.

The accident to the Montreal Express at
Woodstock Bridge on White River. Vermont,
adds another to the long list of railroad disas-
ters. the destruction of life in which has been
fearfully magnfied by the burning OF the cars.
In this instance the train appears TO nave Deeh
thrown off the track by broken rail, though
one account suggests that the initial cause may
have been the breaking of wheel on one OF 'lic
cars. The possibility that the rail- may nave
broken after the train entered On the DrluSe
rests mainly upon the fact that the locomotive
baggage and postal cars did not leave the track
and escaped injury. Four passenger cars t"o
of which were sleepers. went OIL the TRACK III
the end of the bridge and fell into the river be-
low, distance of forty or fifty feet, turning
over as they fell. No doubt many OF the pas
sengers were seriously hurt by the fall, anu INC
cars were full of visitors to the ice carnlVai DIT
Montreal. 1t appears that for some minutes
after the accident occurred there was no hIe'
but then flames appeared in the wreck OF one
of the Messenger cars, and there being no water
at hand the fire spread rapidly, driving away
the rescuers from the wreck, and in less than
half an hour consuming the wounded and the
dead together.
he laUfSU VI INC loSo VI INV t"N
at between fifty and sixty persons. There were
eighty passengers on the train, and about TWEEN
ty-five or twenty-six seem Ohave been rescued.
Of these two at least died shortly after their
removal from the wreck, and Others are seri-
ously if not fatally injured. But the stoves
in the cars as usual quickly put an end to the
attempts at rescue. 1t is, of course, impossible
to know how many persons were killed by 'he
fall, but there can be no doubt that many, anu
probably the majority, of those who were I'M
prisOned in the wreck could have been got out
alive but for the conflagrati0n. Thus once
more the question Of the safe heating OF rail-
road cars is forced upon the attention alike OF
the public and the railroad corporations, and
this time ii is to be hoped that the appalling
extent of the disaster will result in the prompt
adoption of protective measures. The dis
cussion which the last calamity of this kind
gave rise to, and which is even now proceeding
in the periodicals devoted to rairoadmechanics,
brought out the fact conspicuously that there
is really no want of practical appliances for
making cars safe. 1t must, therefore. be con-
cuded that the general failure to adopt some
of the many feasible inventions already pat
ented is attributable to false economy on the
part of the companies, and not to the inherent
difficulty of the problem
The TRIBUNE suggested at the time of the
last railroad cremation, that legislative action
should be taken to compel the adoption of safe
car-heatng appliances. 1t certainly cannot any
longer be said that more time is needed for the
investigation of this subject The kind of rail-
road disasters of which one of the worst exam
pies occurred yesterday at White River have
been taking place at intervals now for forty
years. During that period few corporations
have actually adopted improved methods OF
heating their cars, and with the best results.
The great railroads, however, have put OIL ac-
ton on one pretext and another until to-day
the public are entitled to say that reasonable
patlence is exhausted and that the law must
make mandatory those protective measures
which the companies are not willing to adopt
without compusion. FOrbearance in such
case is only justifabe when the problem to be
solved is exceptionally difficult. Investigation
demonstrates that this is not the case here, but
that the whole question of making travelling
by rail safe from the most frightful OF dangers
is at bottom one of outlay. If the companies
think more of their dividends than of the lives
of the public, they must be made to realize and
fulfil their obligations no matter what 1t costs
them to do so.